Metallic railway-tie



w. B. GATEWOOD AN D ,v. P. DA-LMAS.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED, NOV. 8. .1919.

smmms Minna 5,

Patented Feb. .1 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM :B. GATEWOOD, or HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA, AND VICTOR r. DALMAS,

or ASHLAND, KENTUCKY.

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Iietters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed November 8, 1919. Serial No. 336,617.

permits the rails to be held rigidly inoall conditions of use, so t at sition durin lbeafiorded a stable and even the cars wil trackage. N

More articularly, our invention relates to metal ic ties for use in mines, factories, farms, lantations, construction work, and other p aces where the track has to be frequently shifted as the work progresses, and

to means for providing a tie that can be quickly set in place and will provide a sure and positive holdin means for the rails,

, In the past, nu1n ers of ties built of metallic material have been conceived, but in general the structure has been so compli- [cated that it has been impractical to use them. The cost of manufacture has either I been prohibitive or the complicated structure has proved to be subject tobreakage or wear, which necessitated a large outlay for maintenance. In some instances in the past ,art the holding clamp for the rail has been struck up from the body of the tie. This structure has proven to be'expensive to construct where the holding clamp has been large enough to insure strength and where the clamp has been punched out of the body of the tie roper, the tie itself has been weakened, of the c a p them e es as, o o r, no a proven suflicient to stand the strains of customary usage, and the. clamp members have been either broken off or bent. r

There is another type of metallic tie where the rail fastening means consists of metallic amp ng b tons w th enla ged he d The mpin tt s Which g ip the eut deo he r l e se a fi d m ovable, utthos ipp n he i n ide oft a l bas ar pivote so that th project rs hat e ga the ra l maybe rotated u ov engasemein and the rail em ed tree; h tie" Th n th s at rm the en t clamping; buttons have often proved too frail to withstand continued usage and were frequently found to. be broken or bent by the strains to which they were subjected. It

was to overcome the disadvantages of the devices in use in the prior art that this in vention was conceived.

An object of this invention is to provide a tie that embodies simplicity of construction with great strength. The holding clamp for the rail is formed integral with the body of the tie itself, and by the simple process of bending the end of the tie to form a close fitting contact with the base of the rail. The rail is held on the other side by a revolving bar clalnp that when swung into place is held in engaging position against the rail base by means of the natural spring of the bar itself. Because of the great strength of the holding clam which consists of the struck-up end 0 the channel beam forming the tie, this Part of therail fastening device is practically indestructible. The revolving bar clamp which forms the other part of the rail fastenin device is very simple in construction. e only part subject to any considerable de tee of destructive wear is the rivet upon which the bar is pivoted. The repair of this rivet is an inexpensive operation whichma be performed in any for e shop, and the tie is again ready for use in a short space oftime.

Another object of this invention is to rovide a tiethat can be quickly and feel ely fastened in place with the only necessary tools consisting of a sled e, crowbar, pick, orother heavy body. T ese tools are always at hand in amine or in any construction work, andthis feature of. our device insures that no time will be lost in laying the a trael: for the cars. Because the tie. is constructed of a section of channel beam the up-struck sides of which are designed to engage with the earth, the creeping of the tie is prevented. r

With these and other objects in view, which may be incident to the use of the improvements, the invention consists in. the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter loo s t r h and claime wi h he unde s nd that the se er n cessary men s co l ltutingthe sa em y e va e in Pr po tions and arr ngement it out d pri ng f om the sp i seepepi he inv nt n.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, we have shown, in the accompanying drawings, means for carrying the same into practical eflect without limiting the improvements in their useful 44 of Fig. 1, showing the channel beam construction. of the tie body and of the holdin clamp.

eferring to' Figs. 1 and 2, 1 indicates a tie body of-metal'formed in substantially channel beam shape with struck up edges 2 and 3, as plainly shown in Fig. 4. The supporting body 'of the tie comprises this piece,

which, in use is designed to be turned so that the struck up edges 2 and 3 will be on thebottom side, and will become embedded .in the dirt by reason of the pressure of the 1 weight of the track and of the passage of track. 7 I ,1 The e'nds cars over the rails. Theseedges prevent the -move'ment1of the tie in the directionof the of the tie body are bent up by means ofa. die press or any other suitable means to-form holding clamps 4. These holding clamps are accurately constructed tofit the outside rail bases 5 of the'rails 6. By reason ofthe accurate fit of the holding clamps to the rail bases it is unnecessary to have any. wedge or block of'wood or iron fitted between these members, ashas often been the practice in the priorart. Thechannel beamshape of the tie body gives great .strength to the holding clamps 4 and practically insures themagainst bending or distortion in ordinary use.

- I The inside rail bases 7 are held fast by V 7 means of revolving bar clamps 8 pivoted on rivets 9 extending through the tie body member 1.. The rail'engaging ends of the bar clamps are indicated by the numeral 10,

land these'are slightly inclined upward to allow them to slideover the rail bases 7 ,To insure that these members will move into place easily, all the corners and the edges are. rounded off as is indicated plainly in iFigs l and 2. The ends of the bar clamps 8, ppposite the rail engaging ends 10, compr se spring locking members 11, which slantat a slight angle upward to afford a more positive spring action. The ends of ..these'lastmenti0ned members are narrowed .jand taper down to an endlug 12 which is bent sharply downward to form alocking means'for' engagement with a depression 13 in the tie body 1. This taper insures the proper flexibility and saves considerably in the cost of production by economizing in material.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3, the portion of the tie body 1, designed to contact with the ground, is provided with cross plates 14, which become embedded. in the soil and prevent the creeping of the tie in a direction laterally of the track. These cross,

plates 14 may be formed on the tie body by any desired method and their process of manufacture constitutes no part of this invention.

As will be apparent from the specification there is no necessity for-the use of wedges or blocks of wood or metal to insure the proper gripping of the holding clamps against the rail bases as has been the practice in the prior art. The holding clamps are constructed to accurately engage the rail bases and no other holding means need be used with our device for the inside of the rail.

One of the greatest advantages of our invention lies in the simplicity of construction. There are no auxiliary parts to be lost in the mud; the laying or the removal of the track requires no special tools; there are few parts to become out of order and repair is easily and quickly effected.

What we claim is:

1. In a metallic railway tie, the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tie in the direction of the track, holding clamps bent up from the'ends of the channel beam of the tie body itself to clamp the outside of the rail bases, and revolving bar clamps with rounded ends to engage the inside of the railbases, with means attached to the tie body to prevent slipping of the tie laterally of the direction of the track.

2. In a metallic railway tie, the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tie in the direction of the track, holding clamps bent up from the ends of the tie body to engage and clamp the outside of the rail bases, and revolving bar clamps having rounded rail engaging ends to engage the inside of the rail base, the other ends being upwardly slanting and tapered, with lugs bent from the body of the clamp for engagement with depressions in the tie body to lock the clamp is position.

3. In a metallic railway tie. the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tie in the direction of the track, and holding clamps bent up from the ends of the tie body to clamp the outside of the railbases, with revolving bar clamps having rounded rail engaging ends to engage the inside of the railbases, the other ends of said bar clamps being provided with lugs bent from the body of the clamp which are spring ressed by the natural spring of the metal 0 the bar into engagement with a depression in the tie body to hold the bar against rotation.

4. In a metallic railway tie, the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tie in the direction of the track, holding clamps bent up from the ends of the tie body to accurately engage and clamp the outside of? the railbases, and revolving bar clamps having rounded rail engaging ends to engage the inside of the railbases, and having their other ends tapered and provided with lugs bent from the body of the clamp, with means attached to the tie body to prevent slipping of the tie laterally of the direction of the track.

5. In a metallic railway tie, the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tiem the direction of the track, and holding clamps bent up from the ends of the tie body to accurately engage and clamp the outside of the railbases, with revolving bar clamps having rounded rail engaging ends to engage the inside of the railbases, the other ends of said bar clamps bein provided with lugs bent from the body oi? the clamp which are spring pressed bythe natural spring of the metal of the bar into engagement with a depression in the tie body to hold the bar against rotation.

6. In a metallic railway tie, the combination of a metallic tie body of substantially channel beam cross section adapted to engage the earth to prevent slipping of the tiein the direction of the track, holding clamps bent up from the ends of the tie body to clamp the outside of the railbases, and revolving bar clamps to engage the inside of the railbases, with cross ates formed within the channel groove 0 the base of the tie to prevent slipping of the tie laterally of the direction of the track.

In testimony whereof, we ailix our signatures,

WILLIAM B. GATEWOOD. VICTOR- P. DALMAsi 

